Method of creating cartoon effects



L. B. PICKLEY METHOD OF CREATING CARTOON EFFECTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 26, 1959 Flaz LEONARD B. DICKLEY INVENTOR Oct. 21, 1941. L. a. PICKLEY. 2,260,092

I METHOD OF CREATING CARTOON EFFECTS Filed Dec. 26, 1939' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE-3 FIGA- FIG. 5

LEONARD B. plCKLEY INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 21, 1941 METHOD OF CREATING CARTOON EFFECTS Leonard B. Pickley, Los Angeles, Caliit, assignor to Walt Disney Productions, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California I Application December 26, 1939, Serial No. 310,929

2 Claims.

The present invention pertains to methods for use in animated cartoon photography. The invention is particularly directed towards methods whereby eifects of roundness or depth may be imparted to the drawings or paintings and to methods whereby realistic shadows may be depicted upon the drawings so that the completed scenesmore accurately and pleasingly depict the characters and other objects portrayed therein.

Briefly stated, the methods employed in the production of animated cartoons include the steps of drawing the characters or objects and then photographing the drawing upon motion picture film. In the production of animated photoplays in colors, the drawingsigene'rally made originally on paper) are transferred onto transparent sheets or cells; The outlines of the drawings are generally shown on one surface of the cell whereas thereverse side is painted with suit- "able substantially opaque paints so that the tinished cell comprises a painting of the character or object. It is well known that the tone of an I object changes with the amount of light thrown thereon and as a result the artists are confronted with the problem, of correctly depicting the tone of the object on its shaded side in comparison with the tone of the object on the illuminated sidethereof. Such shading may be accomplished the efiects of shadows, depth, tone, change and the like in drawings for use in animated cartoon photography or wherever such effect is desired.

A further object is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive method of modifying a previously made pictorial representation so as to properly shade the same.

These and' other advantages, objects, uses and adaptations of the invention will be readily ap-' preciated by those skilled in the 81ft from the following description of certain illustrative forms ofv the invention. In order to facilitate under standing, reference will be had to the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. '1 depicts a fanciful drawing of the char-' acter ordinarily employed in cartoon production. Fig. 2 is a shadow cell prepared in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows 'the effect obtained by superimposing the shadow cell upon the drawing of Fig. 1. Figs. 4,5 and 6 are enlarged vertical sections Q through a shadow cell in various stages of preparation.

Since the methods of this invention are partic ularly of value in the production of photoplays .in'substantially natural color, the description by changing the tonal quality of the paints applied but this requires very careful application of the paints and is expensive, time-consuming, requires the use of many shades or'tones of each color, and is otherwise unsuited for use in the "production of p'hotoplays which may require many thousands of individual drawings The present inventionpermits the artists :to paint the objects or images on ,the cells with standard uniform pain-ts irrespective of whether the paint is applied to the illuminated or the shadow side of an object. By means of the procass of this invention, another cell is provided, thiscell bearing a uniformly colored film of material on portions only of this secondary transparent sheet or cell, this film having outlines determined, in part at least, by theoutlines of the pictorial representation which is being depleted whereby the secondary transparent sheet or shadow cell may 'then be superimposed upon the pictorial representation to impart desired shading-s thereto and to modify the tones of the original painting or drawing so that when viewed by the eye or by the camera, a suitable shadow effeet is obtained.

An obiectof the present invention, therefore, is to disclose and provide a-method of producing given hereinafter will be particularly directed to the use of the methods and devices'in the production of such colored animated cartoon films. After an original drawing is made, such drawing is traced or transferred onto a sheet of transparent material such'as, for example, a sheet of glass, plastic, cellulose derivative, or the like.

Fig. 1 shows a transparency It provided with the customary registry openings H, I! and H,

such cell carrying a desired pictorial representation, in this case, Mickey Mouse dressed in a robe I4 and shoes IS.- The cell also carries a representation of a wooden bucket I6. Since this cell is to be used in the production of a photoplay in colors, the. reverse side of the cell is suitabl painted, the face and hands being painted with a desired flesh tone whereas the robe I4 is of another color, the shoes IS of a suitable color and,

the bucket it of another color. The various ele-\ ments of the cell in may be painted a uniform shade or color, for example, the entire outside oi the bucket l8 may be of the same color. Obviously, no shading appears in l.

A shaded drawing is desired, however, with the light being cast from the leit'of the picture as shown in Fig. 3, for example. ln'order to produce the changes in tones which create the cheat of shadow, a shadow cell is prepared. A shadow cell preferably comprises a sheet of transparent superimposed over this separate drawing before the protective coating are applied. This meth- Y od may be used where the shadow is to extend over a number of elements, some of which appear on separate sheets of Celluloid.

The shadow cell l8 prepared as above described is then placed in superimposed relation to the original cell ID, the composite presenting the appearance shown in Fig. 3. It is to be noted that the shadow (composed of portions of the film is) is virtually transparent but tones down done by appropriate coating machinery and thereby eliminate brush marks and other inequalities. The film i9 may well comprise a solution of gelatin, agar agar, or the various vegetable gums such as gum arabic, and the like. The dye or pigment may be uniformly dissolved in the solution or suspended therein. Suspensions of starch in casein, gelatin or gum solutions may be suitably colored. Carbon black or inks may be used in the film IS. A suitable film composition may comprise gelatin, water and glycerine in the proportion of about 1 part of gelatin to 2 parts of water and about 0.2 to 0.4 part of glycerine. Instead of glycerine, other plasticizing agents such as dibutyl phthalate, tricresyl phosphate, or the like, may be em-.

ployed. l

The shadow sheet l8 provided with the uniform color-bearing film I9 is superimposed upon the drawing i6 and a protective coating is applied to desired portions 'only of the shadow sheet over the color-bearing film- 59. During the application of the protective coating, the artist is guided by the outlines of the character the coloring of the objects depicted on the cell Ill and in some instances extends over portions of any suitable background which may be positioned behind cell it. If, for example, the back wall is to be a paneled room, then the portion ll of the shadow will be cast upon'and tone down the coloring of the walls. Ordinarily it has been found desirable to use grays, blues and blue greens as the colors of the shadow cells.

- and the protective layer are soluble in selective solvents, the solvent used inremoving one of these. coatings having no solvent effect on the other coating. In the example given, the colorbearing film may be water-soluble whereas the protective coatings or lacquers are soluble in organic solvents.

depicted on the cell Ill. Theprotective coating is only applied where it is desired to leave the virtually transparent but color-bearing film 1-9.

As a result, the outlines of the protective coating coincide, in part. at least, with the outlines of the images carried by the cell It. For example, it is desired to place a portion of the robe in shadow and therefore the protective coating is applied between the edge Hi and an appro priate part in the front of the image. The edge M is indicated in Fig. 2. A shadow of Mickeys head also may be drawn on the back wall and such shadow is generally indicated at H in Fig. 2. By. referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the protective coating is indicated at 20and 2|.

The protective coatings thus applied may be transparent lacquers or other compositions which would be unaffected by solvents for the film l9. It has been found that lacquers made from ethyl cellulose, lactyl resins and ester gums are satisfactory.

After the protective coating has been applied in the manner stated, the shadow cell it is treated with a solvent for the unprotected film I9. The solvent removes all of the unprotected film, leaving the homogeneously and uniformly, colored film in position on-the cell as shown in Fig. 6. If the protective coating is transparent and not colored, thenit is notnecessary to remove the same. If, however, the protective I coating has an undesired coloration, then the If desired, the relationship of the color-bear-.

ing film or layer and the protective coating may be reversed. In otherwords, the shadow cell may be first coated with a lacquer solution containing a dye and the lacquer then protected in spots by means of a water-soluble gummy film. A suitable lacquer may be made by combining 20 grams agent such as a glycolate, may be added. Suitv able dyestuffs may be dissolved in this lacquer before it is applied to the transparency.

In the original example given, the color-bearing material was a gummy coating or film and a fugitive dye into the lacquer, the operator being then capable of observing. exactly where he has applied lacquer, the dye being dissipated by subsequent exposure of the cell to sunlight.

When the original color-bearing'film is a gel- A atin or gum,- the protective coating may take the cell shown in Fig. 6 is subjected to a secondary 1 bathof a solvent capable of selectively removing the protective coating without affecting the residual color film l9. Instead of applying the shadow cell i8 over the drawing ID, a separate drawing'may be made first, such drawing giving the outline of the areas which are to be covered with shadow and the shadow cell l8 then form of a bichromate solution containing a fugitive dye, this solution rendering the gelatin in- 1 soluble so that when the shadowcell is subjected to a solvent having a selective eifect upon the unprotected or untreated gelatin coating,.

is desired to produce a localized, substantially transparent but 'color-bearingfilm. For example, -water effects may be readily produced by introducing shadow. sheets made as above de-- scribed, such shadow sheets carrying very thin films having a blue. coloration. If,- for example, it is desired to show a fish bowl with a fish swimming therein, the outline of the bowl and the fish may be painted on one cell whereas a shadow cell of a paleblue coloration may be the fish leaps out of the bowl, the coloring will The be modified as he moves out of the water. use of two or three of such'superimposed shadow cells may permit suitable gradation of tone as the fish swims toward or away from the observation side of the bowl, the number of sheets positioned between the camera (or observer) and the fish producing a dimming effect as the fish either advances toward or retreats from the observer.

Those skilled in the art will readily understand from the description given that numerous changes, modifications and adaptations of the invention may be made. All changes coming within the scope of the appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. A method of producing shadow effects and the like in animated cartoons, which comprises: superimposing a sheet of transparent material carrying a uniform color-bearing, light transmitting film thereon over a pictorial representation to be photographed, applying a substantially transparent protective coating to desired portions only of said sheet to cover said color-bearing fihn, said protective coating being applied in accordance with the pictorial representations therebelow, then removing the unprotected colorbearing film while retaining the protected remaining color-bearing film, superimposing the treated sheet over the pictorial representation, and photographingthe treated sheet and pictorial representation while in superimposed relation.

2. A method of producing shadow effects andthe like in animated cartoons, which comprises: applying a color-bearing composition to one surface of one sheet of transparent'material to form a uniform colored film thereon, said film permitting the passage of light therethrough; applying a substantially transparent protective coating to desired portions only of said colorbearing film; removing uncoated colored film from said sheet material by means of a solvent having a selective solvent action upon said uncoated colored film; and superimposing the treated sheet over a pictorial representation and photographing said treated sheet and pictorial representation while in superimposed relation, the colored film carried by said treated sheet imparting a desired shading to desired areas of said pictorial representation.

' LEONARD B. PICKLEY. 

